WatTyler said:
..... I'll let you all know how it goes.
OK, my Futurola grinder arrived, so as promised I'll give my opinion. And I'm now done spending more money on herb grinders- I've been through enough, and so I might as well spill my guts and do some pics and let you know my overall conclusions. Mods- let me know if it's too many pictures and that costs FC money or something.....
I'm most interested in the grind rather than 'style' and so I don't limit myself just to the CNC metal grinders. They're really nice to have and certainly the most pleasant to hold and operate, but when it actually comes to grinding, in my methodology at least as I'll hopefully demonstrate, they're not always the most effective for grinding herb ( IMO!!! I don't think this will be a popular opinion amongst invested premium CNC fans). But I do believe that they are more than adequate for most vapes though, and they certainly feel the most satisfying to use and certainly do have their place in on my coffee table. But I do use something different, in my mind 'better' because of the finer grind, for my MFLB and PD.
So here's a selection of what I currently have below;
-At the top left we start with the Volcano 2 piece, along with a clear plastic 'original grinder', which is virtually identical tooth and grind wise.
-Next to the right is a Wooden Molino 2 piece with plastic insert teeth.
-Below right of that in black is a medium generic no name CNC metal grinder which I bought to replace my medium 2 pc space case, which I lost
, but this is the best replacement- EVERY bit as effective (IMO) for less than 1/2 the price.
-Then above right of that in aluminium is my 4 piece.
-On the far right is my coffe grinder- specially sourced because it had a particularly small grinding bowl (40g (1.5oz)- I think most of the others were 70g).
-Moving towards the left along the bottom are two electric herb grinders- someone on here (charliedontsurf?) say's they're great, and I've been trying to find that success....twice so far.... but more on that in a min.....
-Then we have the 1.2" tiny portables- just generic no names- I originally had a M&B Nano II, until I lost that too, and looking for a replacement I actually found the no name imitations to be better with a friction ring, which my Nano never had, and so went with those.
-And finally in hideous yellow on the left we have the new Futurola which arrived today (you don't get to choose the colour :/ which is a bit fucking stupid really when it's my grinder- Grass City are too big for my faithful business- no customer service- no phone line even anymore)
Here's my new Futurola in it's retail box, along with the buds I used to make this demonstration. They were dry and well cured. Different results may be experienced with different 'phytosubstrates' (
) and moisture levels.
So verdict on the grinder? - It's a horrible yellow, but that's superficial.
It's a nice large size (not portable) and easy to get a good grip on for twisting. Feels pretty smooth whilst grinding due to low friction between the halves, sharp cutting teeth, and plenty of torque from the large diameter grips.
The teeth configuration looks impressive, although the teeth are only sharp on the 2 cutting edges. They feel slightly flimsly, but I don't think that's the case- maybe it's just a bit of flex that actually gives the material strength (although I could still certainly easily imagine breaking one). They should stand up to a bit of grinding under normal expected circumstances. No extra plastic bits, broken bits or manufacturing defects.
The 2 halves fit tgether snugly and I can imagine that it might get gunked up pretty quickly in heavy use and jam when turning, as most grinders are prone to do. I think I might have seen somewhere in the advertising for this though that cleaning is meant to be easy- I could well imagine just chucking it into the dishwasher occasionaly.
So the thing that really matters- THE GRIND;
So I grind for about 20 seconds I guess- making sure that there are no points of resistance at all as I turn the grinder around.
Still, it's pretty coarse. Coarser than a 4 piece CNC.
Overall not impressed. I doubt I will be using it again and have pretty much wasted 10. But all in the name of research, and like I say, I think I have drawn my long term conclusions now and know what grinders I like, and so the research is more or less done except for new innovations as far as I'm concerned.
So here's a comparrison with the grind from some of my other grinders. All were ground for around 20 seconds (4 piece upside down for 15 sec, 5 upright), until there was no more bumping and jarring whilst twisting the teeth.
At the bottom right is the electric blade coffee grinder product which I use sometimes for the MFLB. Super fine.
And here are some links to some closer up grind comparrisons, if anyone's interested;
Futurola VS Storz and Bickel grinder;
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/263/dscf0323x.jpg/
CNC 1.2" 2 piece VS 2.5" 4 piece
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/863/dscf0324.jpg/
Wooden Molino VS 2" CNC
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/861/dscf0325o.jpg/
Probably not the most illuminating pairings to consider, but I wans't really thinking at the time I took the pics
But this in my view is the best one, and it shows the three I use the most. It compares the grind of a 4 piece CNC (standard teeth, 5mm holes) in the bottom left, with the Wooden Molino at the top, and the electric coffee grinder at the right.
I use the CNC 4 piece alongside my SSV, the Molino alongside the PD where it looks nice as well as working like a champ, and the coffee grinder I use for the LB (although I maybe honestly do also use a 1.2" 2 piece portable more often with this, as it's 'on the go')
So after all of this I have reached the conclusion that the cheap and cheerful Molino is acutally my favourite grinder for both form and function.
Space cases and such high end named grinders are nice to own, but IMO have no performance advantage over any other metal CNC. And a basic metal CNC is still nice to own, but actually (and again IMO
) don't offer any performance advantage over plastic cutting teeth. In fact IMO plastic teeth can actually do a better job and can be every bit as durable in normal use.
As many people know the Volcano teeth do work well- the're an intuitive pyramid tooth design. This performance is easily matched in the lesser known Molino, but supplemented with a nice wood finish that perfectly complements my PD and wooden stem cup and little wooden bowl for ground weed. Kicks the ass off the ugly orange of the Storz and Bickel. And it was a steal at about 7 ($10?).
Molino grinders
You've got to watch out though- wood can be weak and I broke the first one I owned when tapping out the herbs
(you don't get THAT with a Space Case
) but I was convinced enought to buy another.
Edit- the battery powered electric grinders- Charliedontsurf- is it you that swears by the one from EDIT? After hearing this I first got the metal one in my pic above, as I thought it would be better. But it's not. It goes proper fast and knocks the keif off, but the blades get caught really easily and bring it to a stop. I still didn't want to pay the full price of the plastic EDIT one so I got one that looks exactly the same off of ebay for half the price- it's 'grassleaf' brand, although cheap quality and packaging. Looks to me exactly the same as the one on EDIT, but I have the same issues getting it to work as I do with the metal version. Too fast, but not enough power, and a coarse grind. How does yours work? Is it grassleaf?
Edit II- terrible writing- I'm in a rush. I'll edit it later to make better reading
I will just add the ranking in order of coarseness of grind, coarsest first;
- Futurola[/*]
- CNC 4 Piece (med size, 5mm holes)[/*]
- Electric (battery) Grinder[/*]
- CNC 2 piece (med size)[/*]
- 1.2" CNC 2 piece[/*]
- Storz & Bickel= 'Original Grinder' (the clear plastic one) = Molino Grinder[/*]
- Electric Coffee Grinder[/*]
avoid the black-any brand) 
